The Random House dictionary defines plagiarism as "the
unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of
another author and the representation of them as one's own original
The University will hold a student responsible for their
actions. Academic dishonesty will be sanctioned. For more
information on penalties, see the catalog.
Imitation or borrowing by themselves are not plagiarism.
However, you must acknowledge that you read, borrowed or quoted
from an author or source.
There are 5 kinds of common plagiarism:
Five Ways to Avoid Plagiarism
Things you can use without quotes.
You can state famous people's birth and death dates and other
commonly known information. Why? This is common information; for
example, the 4th of July celebrates Independence day in America,
George Washington was the first President of the U.S., John Wilkes
Booth shot Abraham Lincoln, and that in 1492 Columbus sailed the
ocean blue. None of this would need quotes, unless you added
specific information, such as "John Wilkes Booth was born on May
10, 1838 in a log house. The family home was on property near Bel
Air, Maryland, twenty-five miles south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Elder brother Edwin supervised his younger brother's upbringing.
Why would you need to quote this but not the other information
about Booth? Because it is not information that is common, not many
people would know it without looking it up.
Concrete examples for you to consider